My favorite co-op game in years is on sale for $3 in the Steam Summer Sale

Goblins
(Image credit: Cyanide)

One of the best co-op games, and one of oh-so-few stealth co-op joints around, Styx: Shards of Darkness, is 85% off (just $2.99) for another couple days. With the Steam Summer Sale not quite closed, it's not too late to toss some pocket change at another couple games. Better yet, talk a friend into playing with you.

I routinely cycle back through my whingeing that co-op campaigns just don't exist like they used to and Styx: Shard of Darkness was the answer to my grievances when I picked it up a couple years back. It's a proper stealth romp with large levels to dissect by picking off guards and avoiding combat with darkness and crawl spaces. All you've got to suffer for it are some bottom-shelf scatological jokes from a snarky goblin. 

If you got burned by the not-stellar creepy little guy stealth in The Lord of The Rings: Gollum, this should be your next port of call. We gave it a nice 79% in our Styx: Shards of Darkness review and despite how easy I find it to recommend it's maintained a shadowy, lesser-known status.

You can play it solo if you prefer but it's a grand time in co-op. As Styx and Clone Styx, you and a pal both get to unlock your own tree of skills to specialize in proper soundless stealth, traps, alchemy, and tracking enemies. You can stick close together for some great double kill setups or split up to pave the way for each other by dousing lights or taking down armored guards. It was truly the best bit of whooping and hollering over clinch move moments I've had with a friend in years.

Styx actually gets down below $5 several times a year, but this $2.99/£2.69 is the lowest it's gotten. It's a real breezy 10-ish hours at a price that's really easy to wheedle your co-op partner of choice into trying. The first game Styx: Master of Shadows is also on sale for $1.99, though it's singleplayer only.

Lauren Morton
Associate Editor

Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.

Read more
Styx: Blades of Greed screenshot showing Styx viewing an underground mansion from a distance
My favourite AA stealth series starring a loathsome centuries-old goblin is getting a new instalment
Two cannibals in a forest
This co-op survival horror masterpiece is just $2 in the Steam Winter Sale, which could explain why it just hit an all-time high player count of nearly 100k a decade after it launched
Zoe showing off in front of Mio
Split Fiction review
Divinity: Original Sin 2
The best co-op games to drag your pals into
Spectre Divide promo art
5 PC games that should be way more popular than they are
South Park The Stick of Truth screenshot showing Cartman dressed as a wizard.
The legendary South Park RPG that has over 50,000 'Overwhelmingly Positive' reviews on Steam is now cheaper than a cup of coffee
Latest in Action
A red Porsche spaceship in front of a red planet
Naughty Dog's next game is definitely steering clear of controversy: 'Let's do something that people won't care as much about. Let's make a game about faith and religion'
Olivia, Alma and a palico
I wish Monster Hunter Wilds wasn't so afraid of letting me play Monster Hunter
Key art of Kent Paul in Grand Theft Auto Vice City.
'My own voice was driving me f***ing insane': GTA Vice City actor admits even he couldn't get past his own, notoriously difficult mission
Split Fiction trailer still - Zoe and Mio standing side by side, wearing glowing neon sci-fi jammies
Split Fiction sells 1 million copies over 2 days
More than 5 years after launch, Control gets a surprise patch that lets everyone play the Hideo Kojima mission
The character Neil in Death Stranding 2, who here is posing like Solid Snake.
Hideo Kojima really just went 'screw it' and made Metal Gear Stranding
Latest in News
Fallout New Vegas Key Art
The Fallout season 2 leaks continue with videos of the New Vegas set, including a sign for Mr. House's casino
Gallywix wears an uneasy smile as he's confronted by Xal'atath in WoW: The War Within.
World of Warcraft guild uses exploits to get world 'first' on the game's new raid, gets banned, puts its name backwards and does it again
Photo of BlizzCon 2023 main stage
BlizzCon 2025 isn't happening, meaning the event will miss its 20th anniversary, but it will return in 2026 to 'meaningfully elevate this iconic celebration'
Shohei Ohtani wearing Samurai Shohei outfit in Fortnite
The best baseball player alive is coming to Fortnite, and so is his dog
Mech in dry dock with person standing on catwalk underneath
How long can a live service game last? Theoretically, 'forever,' says Mecha Break developer: 'The last game I was in charge of has been alive and well for 16 years'
A computer screen with program code warning of a detected malware script program. 3d illustration
Coder faces 10 years' jailtime for creating a 'kill switch' that screwed-up his employers' systems when he was laid off